Page 132 of Grimstone

Jude clings to my hand, terrified.

“Remi!” he squeaks.

I have to get him out of here, but I can’t leave our parents.

“Dad—”

“GO!” Our father shouts, pushing us.

I slosh back up the hallway, leaning forward against the increasing angle, dragging Jude along with me. It’s even more difficult to force the hatch up against the wind.

I know where the lifeboat is, I even know how to launch it because my dad makes sure to show us whenever we take a trip like this, just in case. He’s an optimist, a glass-half-full person, but he still reminds us about the life jackets and the raft, every single time.

I help Jude climb into the lifeboat, but I don’t pull the lever to lower it down, even though the ship is tilting and it’s lifting the raft, too, hoisting us high above the water. The waves are wild enough to splash over the side of the raft, soaking our legs.

The idea of bobbing in this tiny boat on these mountainous waves horrifies me, but the front of the ship is dipping lower, and I don’t know if Dad’s going to be able to get it straightened out…

Every second is agonizing. I’m watching the hatch, waiting for our parents to emerge.

“Remi!” Jude sobs as the ship makes an awful wrenching sound and the bow sinks.

“It’s okay,” I tell him. “They’re coming…any second…”

“REMI!”

I drag my eyes away from the hatch, toward his pale, terrified face.

“It’s sinking!” he shrieks. “We have to go!”

* * *

The crashof piano keys wakes me.

I lie on my bed, rigid as a board, heart hammering.

My instinct is to go sprinting out of bed like before, but this time I’m not going to rush around in a panic. I’m going to act with deliberation.

I grab my phone and pull up the app for my security camera, finding the motion notification and scrolling back to watch.

The dining room is dark, only a little moonlight coming through the un-shuttered windows, gleaming on the open keys of the piano.

A shadow moves in the corner of the frame, and something hits the camera, knocking it sideways, turning it to face the wall. Then the piano keys crash and boom, while the lens records nothing but plaster.

Someone snuck in from the side and moved the camera.

Like they knew it was there.

And that person is inside my house right now.

A cold, tingly feeling begins at the crown of my head and spreads all the way down my spine….

That feeling is determination.

I slip out from under the covers and pad across the room in my bare feet.

??Bitter and Sick - One Two

I should be terrified as I exit my bedroom and walk down the dark hall. And I am terrified but not with physical fear. It’s more like existential dread—the understanding that whatever I thought my life was, it’s about to change.

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